Minnesota-based truckload carrier Stan Koch & Sons Trucking has reached a consent decree with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to resolve a sex discrimination lawsuit regarding a physical test for driver applicants.
The Golden Valley trucking company is obligated to pay $500,000 over a "physical abilities" test deemed discriminatory against women drivers, as stated by the EEOC.
Approximately 1,000 trucks operate under Koch, which must now comply with the agreement. The settlement directs the distribution of the $500,000 to women identified as "aggrieved individuals," a term referring to those affected by Koch's actions.
The EEOC will oversee this process and notify each woman about the settlement. It is estimated that around 80 women may fall under the "aggrieved individual" category.
Additionally, Koch must offer driver positions to each identified woman, provided they remain qualified. The case revolved around the CRT test, developed by Cost Reduction Technologies, and the disparate success rates between male and female applicants.
Filed in August 2019, the EEOC secured a favorable ruling in August of the current year, with the judge determining that Koch's use of the CRT test had a disparate impact on female applicants.
The EEOC said the CRT test “is an isokinetic apparatus … that purports to measure an individuals’ knee, shoulder and trunk strength, range of motion and endurance.”
The CRT test, introduced by Koch in 2009 for "medium-duty" driver positions, purported to measure knee, shoulder, and trunk strength, range of motion, and endurance. Those failing the test were ineligible for employment.
Despite Koch's claim that the test aimed to reduce workers' compensation claims, the EEOC found no evidence supporting such a decline.
Furthermore, female applicants who failed the CRT test ended up working physically demanding jobs without suffering injuries predicted by the test.
The EEOC's motion for summary judgment highlighted the test's disparate impact, noting that 93.9% of men passed compared to only 52% of women.
The agency argued that Koch's use of the CRT test served no job-related purpose and lacked a business justification.
The consent decree prohibits Koch from using any future physical ability test with a disparate impact on female applicants and explicitly blocks the use of the CRT test, which Koch had already discontinued around three years ago.
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